Biden: Romney no more qualified to be president than a plumber

As the Obama campaign continues its assault on Mitt Romney's record as the CEO of investment firm Bain Capital, Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the business experience like the presumptive GOP nominee's is no more qualifying than that of a Roto-Rooter.

"Your job as president is to promote the common good," he said, comparing the job of a president to that of a private equity mogul. "That doesn't mean that private equity guys are bad guys; they're not. But that no more qualifies you to be president than being a plumber!"

Biden, who spoke to a crowd of over 450 supporters and students at Keene State College, called the private-equity business itself "legitimate," but pushed the administration's argument that its imperative of wealth creation for investors doesn't translate to the skill set of a national leader.

"Folks, making money for your investors, as Romney did very well, is not the president's job," he said. "The president has a different job."

The visit to Keene State College was Biden's fourth trip this year to the Granite State, where Romney overwhelmingly won the GOP primary earlier this year.

The vice president, who made a similar case last week in swing state Ohio, painted Romney on Tuesday as an economic throwback to the Bush administration and as the cultural equivalent of the clean cut dad from a black-and-white TV sitcom.

"We will not go back to the 50s on social policies, to the Cold War on foreign policy, and the policies of the last administration on our economic policies," he said, raising his voice above applause. "We will not do it their way again. We intend to move forward."

With a nod to the equine Triple Crown competitor recently in the news, Biden said Romney's affinity for policies of the past has the same ring to it as the colt's name.

"He begins to sound a little like the horse that just won the Derby and the Preakness. "I'll Have Another." Except the horse was a real winner!" Biden exclaimed.

While the Scranton-born pol took heat from Republicans last week for calling himself "Middle Class Joe" despite a $2m Wilmington home, Biden made a point today to note his humble roots and his subsequent success as a public servant.

"I don't live like I did when I was growing up," he said. "I have a beautiful home. You pay me a lot of money. But I remember."